The present invention pertains to vehicle accessories and particularly to a retractable garment rod for holding garment hangers.
Typically, vehicles are provided with relatively small hooks placed on either side of the headliner of the vehicle behind the front seat for receiving clothes hangers so that clothes can be conveniently carried on a hanger in a hanging position without obstructing the driver's vision or taking up interior space. Such hooks typically are relatively small and can accommodate one or two hangers. An improvement to such standard hooks has been suggested in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,354, issued Sep. 9, 1980, and assigned to the present assignee. In this construction, a hook is pivotally mounted within a recess at the side of the headliner and pivots between a stored position within the vehicle headliner and a lowered position for use. Although such a device provides a neat appearing and safer hook than conventional hooks which continuously extend from the roof of a vehicle, the size of the hook and therefore its storage capacity is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,344 discloses an improvement to existing garment hooks in providing a swing down U-shaped support which is stored within a recess and held and covered by a sliding door when not used. This mechanism provides slots for up to four hangers and is typically mounted adjacent the edge of a vehicle roof near the side windows. Although improving the storage capacity of preexisting hook-type ports, the system of the '344 patent is still somewhat limited in its ability of holding significant numbers of garment hangers.